Garments shipped to retail stores may be individually sealed in a plastic packaging structure such as an envelope or a clamshell package. A clamshell-type package is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,435,447 and 6,276,529 while an envelope-type package is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,616. The plastic packaging structure protects the garment from damage during shipment and keeps matching garments together. Where the matching garments comprise a pair of gloves, the plastic packaging structure containing the gloves may be mounted on a merchandise display for a customer to view and purchase. One type of plastic structure includes a hole at one end such that the structures may be hung from a horizontal rod for display.
One disadvantage of envelope and clamshell packaging is that such packaging has to be opened by a potential purchaser in order to try the gloves on to be sure they fit. Oftentimes the gloves are then left out of their package or they are improperly returned to the package. Another disadvantage is that after the gloves have been purchased, the packaging structure is typically discarded after the gloves have been removed. This tends to be wasteful. Still another disadvantage is that after the gloves are purchased and in use, it is easy to misplace one or both of the gloves, or to store them in a location where they might become damaged.
One way to reduce these problems is to use a glove hanger an example of which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,044. The '044 patent discloses a hanger for holding and displaying hockey gloves on a clothing store rack in an aesthetically pleasing manner for the consumer. The consumer can also use the hanger after purchase to store the gloves, for example, in a closet. One problem with this glove hanger, however, is that it has limited utility because it is specifically designed for carrying large and bulky gloves on a clothing rack in a retail store.